It seems like every time gas prices take a sudden jump, so do the number of mopeds and other little buzz-bomb two-wheeled devices. Each wave lasts about as long as the price spike of the moment, and then most seem to disappear, perhaps never to be seen again. But this Motobecane has weathered numerous such spikes, and is still (or again) in use, even in the snow. Bowen Flat-Black66 shot this in Montreal, and it’s a subject I’ve been waiting to catch for some time myself, since there’s an almost identical one in Eugene that I’ve missed at least once.

For those of you too young to remember, as a result of the first energy crisis of 1973-1974, the first big wave of mopeds was imported from Europe and the Motobecane was one of the top sellers; actually, I should have said tsunami, because that first wave was truly enormous and lasted for a number of years. But even a year before it hit, I helped “legalize” a French moped in Iowa by some unusual methods.

Of course, the European history of the moped goes way back, but in the U.S. they were quite rare (although I do remember seeing “Allstate” mopeds in a Sears catalog back in the sixties). I instantly recognized them as fan-cooled Puchs, made in Austria and a common fixture of my childhood. Back then, they had to be licensed in the U.S. as motorcycles, which substantially dulled any wider interest. In Europe, the moped’s appeal lay in the ability to own and ride one with very little of the typical hassle and expense, but no such laws existed in the U.S.

According to Wikipedia, a certain Serge Seguin, with a small grant from Motobecane, began to open doors in various states starting in 1972.

But his influence hadn’t made it to Iowa in 1973, where a fellow actor in a theater troupe I was in bought a Peugeot moped (above) in Paris and had it shipped back.

Just one problem: In France, mopeds didn’t need brake lights: Like a bicycle, they were signaled by hand, so when he tried to license it in Iowa, as a motorcycle, he was turned down. So it sat in a basement, unused, until he told me about it. I bought a universal six-volt rear light, a six-volt lantern battery (stored in the saddlebag), some wire, and a switch from an old Honda that I adapted to work off his right brake lever. When I took it back to the DMV, they gave it the green light.

In exchange, I got ready access to it, and had some fun summertime rides out on Iowa’s country roads. The little 50 cc two-stroke mill hummed along at a top speed of about 30 mph. I was more into my Belgian ten-speed bike then, and the two of us rode together all over the place; a bit of an odd couple for Iowa in 1973.

Anyway, the Great Moped Mania took off like Beatlemania had ten years earlier, and soon every town and city was buzzing with Motobecanes, Puchs, Peugeots and other, lesser contenders. In 1974, Peugeot set its all-time moped production record of over a half-million units, thanks to booming US sales. What’s more, the First Great Moped Mania lasted for several years, well into the later seventies. When Energy Crisis II came along in 1980-1981, a lot of these well-built European mopeds were called back into action, or else could be bought on the cheap.

With the dollar falling in value, new mopeds from the eighties forward no longer came from Europe, so of course all manner of Japanese, Taiwanese and, ultimately, Chinese mopeds and moped-licensed scooters have taken over the market, ready whenever a gas price-spike brings a new wavelet of demand. I’m not exactly seeing very many on the streets right now, except for that one vintage Motobecane a couple of weeks ago…

22 Comments

I should have figured that mopeds would also be welcome at CC. I should get some pics of our ’75 Malaguti. My mom bought it for my dad as a birthday present. It’s unique in having a 3-speed manually shifted transmission, while most of them have a 2-speed automatic. Sale of that model was outlawed here not long after they bought it, because it was too much like a “real” motorcycle.

He commuted to work on it for a time, but eventually it wound up at the family cottage. It’s got over 10,000km on it now, and I figure I racked-up about half that distance on it. I was driving when the odometer rolled over. 🙂

I remember as a kid in the ’80s, an older guy in the neighborhood got a ’70s vintage Malaguti, and it blew my mind to see the logo on it with my family name. I never did find out if we had any relation to the company. Supposedly my great-grandparents came from the same region of Italy.

I remember one of the TV stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana offering a Motobecane as a prize on TV. Anyhow, I had never heard of Motobecane before. On those rare occasions since, the word “Motobecane” always makes me think of Dialing for Dollars. 🙂

Around here, modern mopeds are not used so much for saving gas as for allowing people to get around after their drivers licenses have been suspended following uninsured accidents or DWIs. BTW, moped drivers have no insurance either, in case you are curious.

Not so in Europe where they have to be insured. Hence the little ‘license plates’ which are only a proof of insurance. More recently special driving licenses for mopeds have been made mandatory as well.

These are frequently seen in San Francisco, particularly popular among the hipster crowd. The Puch Magnum and other “top tanks” command top dollar. In a city with limited parking, these are especially appealing since you can lock them up to a pole on the sidewalk, as with a bicycle.

Unlike the early pictured versions, with current mopeds, the pedals are there essentially for legal compliance, only. Although it’s technically possible to use them, I doubt many do, and they aren’t really designed to be used for human motivation at all. The pedals are installed as an afterthought and I suspect that they’re immediately removed by most new owners when get they get them home.

So it had a starter, not relying on the pedals? Could the pedals be used to assist acceleration, or were they declutched when moving? I’m curious about what function they had. If none, then cycle footpegs would be the way to go.

The spiritual successor to the Moped should be what the Brits call the pedalec. That’s electric bicycle, to us. Mine mixes pedal and battery power, adding a power assist of 25-100% of my own effort. The power’s speed-limited to 24 mph, though, so it’s not quite suitable for traffic.

I’ve been out of small motorcycles for ages, but I’d be interesting in a ride-off comparo between the Motobecane and a modern Vespa.

In PA you need the whole works to operate a moped. The perks are they are exempt from inspection, you can ride one on a regular license, and they are only 9 bucks a year to register.There has been a vintage moped boom of late, with kids modifying craigslist puchs into kustoms and cafes. The moped gang in my town has a garage with metal fab equipment and a powder booth. http://garage.1977mopeds.com/ has tons of custom ‘peds from around the country.

You don’t need to pass the motorcycle license test anymore in PA? I recall from a long time ago (probably around the time this first wave of mopeds came in) that people who checked a box on their license renewal would be grandfathered in up to a certain date, and after that date anyone who wanted a moped classification on their license would have to be tested for it. Did that change? I now live in GA where no license, tags or insurance are required to operate anything with a 50cc or smaller engine.

Nope. 50cc, automatic, and under 30mph design speed exempt you from needing a class m. If it is a true moped with pedals instead of a scooter, you also don’t need inspection and it is a separate cheaper class of registration. I got a sort of reverse cc effect in that all week I have been looking into getting one to rebuild, and then this popped up.

I had a 1978 Honda PA50 Type 1 Hobbit that was made in Belgium. It took me decades to forgive Honda for that disappointing piece of garbage. It worked for all of 2,000 miles. The last year or so I messed with it, it covered more miles in the back of my neighbor’s Buick wagon going to the Honda shop than it did on its own tires. The rear tire still managed to wear out, which I’m reminded of by the top photo here. It came with the same zig-zag tires, probably Michelins. I’ve been told that the problem was the carburetor, and that the new one was over $500, even though the moped only cost $399 as a leftover model. I’ve also been told it was the magneto, so who knows. I abandoned the thing in my parents’ basement for 25 years and then started a bidding war by putting it on a local internet bulletin board. People really wanted non-functioning mopeds in 2007 for some reason. I wound up getting $200 and help cleaning out the basement for it.

Carbs are not 500$ who told you these absurd things? It sucked because you had the pa50i which is notoriously slow and restricted. They do suck, I have a pa50ii and it’s rad and fast. Hobbits rule, even though they are just vespas with no style.

My father sold Motobecanes alongside bicycles in New York State during the gas crisis of 1973, They were a short-lived fad which died out once gas became available/cheaper again. As I recall, the mopeds themselves were not terribly reliable, or possibly their owners were just not used to maintaining them.

Definitely the latter. It’s been my experience with mopeds, 50cc scooters, and even 125-150cc scooters that the owners are the biggest problem, not the vehicle itself. For some reason, the new owner immediately gets the attitude that because he’s bought a cheap vehicle it doesn’t need service – completely forgetting that regular maintenance is essential to a vehicle’s operation, be it 50cc or a new Bently.

When I was 17 years old my buddy had one of these.
Somehow he has managed to make it go 90km/h and it was totaly reliable.
Their engines were made to work constantly on top RPM without aproblem.
Some models had a very original way of changing the gear ratio by moving the
engine back and forth. I think it was called vario matic.These were the “fast”
models and it was kind of weird to see the engine move as you drove.
When riding you had your feet not on the pedals but on the flat”floor” piece
that’s beetwen the seat post and the rear end of the gas tank.
And yes the pedals are there for starting and for assisting on hills.
There are no restrictor devices in it because the engines had such low power
(1-2 hp) that if you restrict it it would’nt move at all.
It actually has a pretty good excaust,a primitive expansion chamber years
before the Japanese reinvented it.
You can make it go faster just by sanding down the transfer ports. Make them smooth
so the gas-oil mixture has an easier time filling up the cylinder.
Thanks for the memories.
Sorry for the language abuse.